1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a sensor network according to the precharacterizing portion of patent claim 1.
The present invention is concerned with the problem that, for the directed or proportionate activation of an airbag in a vehicle, it is of importance to have knowledge of the weight on the seat as well as the load distribution over the seat surface. The forcefulness of the airbag explosion should occur differentially based on the total weight of the occupants. If, in addition, the load distribution on the seat is known with high site-specificity, it also becomes possible therefrom to make a distinction between objects and persons on the seat.
2. Description of the Related Art
For sensing seat occupancy it is known to use, for example, seat mats in which an electrical resistance network is integrated. The weight information is determined from the changes in resistance of the resistance network.
A disadvantage of this system is that it is prone to error due to electromagnetic interference, for example, due to electrostatic discharge. Besides this, neither the total weight determination nor the determination of the spatial weight distribution are sufficiently precise for purposes of controlling a complex airbag system.